VFC Plauen

Football club infobox
clubname = VFC Plauen


fullname = Vogtländischer Fußballclub Plauen e.V.
nickname =
founded = 1903
ground = Vogtlandstadion
capacity = 12,000
chairman =
manager = Stefan Persigehl
league = Regionalliga Nord
season = 2007-08
position = NOFV-Oberliga Süd, 3rd (promoted)
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pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=000000|body2=000000|rightarm2=000000|shorts2=000000|socks2=000000

VFC Plauen is a German football club from the city of Plauen, Saxony.

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History

The club was founded as "1. Vogtländischer Fußballclub Plauen" and took part in the competition of the VMFV (Verband Mitteldeutschland Fußball Verein or Federation of Middle German Football Teams). They enjoyed some success in the early 30s when they captured consecutive local Vogtland division titles in 1930 and 1931. German football was re-organized into sixteen top flight divisions under the Third Reich in 1933 and "VFC" spent a single season in top tier play, the Gauliga Sachsen, before being relegated.

Following the end of World War II occupying Allied authorities ordered the dissolution of all organizations in the country, including football and sports clubs. The club was re-established as "SG Plauen-Süd" in 1945, re-named "ZSG Zellwolle Plauen" in 1949, and then re-named again in 1950 to "BSG Rotation Plauen". After a merger with "BSG Sachsenverlag Plauen" that same year, the team won promotion to East Germany's second division DDR-Liga in 1951 and played at that level until being sent down through league restructuring after the 1954-1955 season. They were again re-named in 1954, becoming "BSG Wismut Plauen".

"Plauen" returned to second division play in 1964 as "BSG Motor WEMA Plauen" where they delivered uneven results until being relegated in 1973. They would languish in lower division play until a resurgence that would come about soon after German re-unification in 1990 that would begin with the side re-claiming its traditional identity as "1. VFC 1990 Plauen". A championship in the Landesliga Sachsen (V) was followed by a dismal campaign in the NOFV-Oberliga Süd that saw the club give up 108 goals while netting only 12 and finishing dead last in the division. "VFC" soon recovered, earning a second Landesliga title in 1994 to return to the Oberliga. In 1996 a successful campaign there led to another title and promotion to the third division Regionalliga Nordost. The club once again found itself sent down through league restructuring in 2000, landing in the NOFV-Oberliga Süd (IV) where they play today.

"VFC" has been one of the most dominant teams in the division over the past several seasons, consistently earning top three finishes. In 2004 they finished atop the table and took part in qualification play for the Regionalliga Nord (III) but failed to advance after being beaten by the reserve side of "Hertha BSC Berlin" on goal difference (2:4, 3:2). Finishing third in the 2007/08 season, Plauen qualified for the reformed Regionalliga Nord.

Among the club's recent achievements are Sachsenpokal wins in 1999 and 2004, as well as another appearance in the final in 2006. Their cup victories led to participation in the German Cup tournament: in 1999 they were able to advance out of the first round with a 1:0 win over "Alemannia Aachen" before being put out 1:2 by "Stuttgarter Kickers"; in 2004 they went out early against "Arminia Bielefeld" (1:2).

Current squad

tadium

"VFC Plauen" plays its home matches in the Vogtlandstadion Plauen located at the north end of town adjacent to a forest. The original stadium area was prepared in 1934 and then enlarged in 1937 with a grandstand area having a capacity of 4,200 spectators. After the war facilities for athletics were added and the site modernized. Today the stadium will hold 12,000 (1,400 seats) and has floodlights and an electonic scoreboard.

Honours

*Landesliga Sachsen (V) champions: 1991, 1994
*NOFV-Oberliga Süd (IV) champions: 2004
*NOFV-Oberliga Süd (IV) thirds: 2008
*Sachsenpokal (Saxony Cup) winners: 1999, 2004

External links

* [http://www.vfc-plauen.de Official team site]
* [http://www.abseits-soccer.com/clubs/plauen.html Abseits Guide to German Soccer]
* [http://www.f-archiv.de/ Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv] historical German football league tables (in German)
* [http://www.eufo.de/ eufo.de] European football club profiles